Overview

Senjo no Valkyria 3 is the third game in Sega's Valkyria Chronicles franchise and the second on the Sony PlayStation Portable. The series is known for its distinctive art style and its blending of strategic role-playing elements and third person action. Unlike the rest of the series Senjo no Valkyria 3 was developed by Media.Vision who had previously worked on the Wild Arms series and some of the installments of Sega's Shining franchise. The game was published by Sega in Japan on January 27, 2011 and an Extra Edition version was released months later which added new content to the title.

Due to the low sales of the previous two Valkyria Chronicles games in the West and the declining popularity of the PSP Sega announced that it would not localize Senjo no Valkyria 3. Since Sega's announcement a group of fans have teamed up to start the Valkyria Chronicles 3 Translation Project, whose goal is to create an unofficial English translation patch for the game. An incomplete beta patch was released by the team on Christmas of 2013 that translates a majority of the game's text.

Setting

Ragnite

Valkyria Chronicles takes place on a continent known as Europa which resembles Europe to a large degree (an instance of Japanese Europe). An important resource in this universe is the mineral ragnite. Ragnite serves as the unobatanium in the game, a power source as well as an ore that has natural healing powers. Its used in grenades, artillery shells, armor plating, and fuel for vehicles. On the other hand, it can be refined into Ragnaid, an all purpose healing balm. Control of ragnite mines is an important motivation in the game. The name ragnite likely comes from the word Rageno, a proto-Germanic word for gods or powers and is the base for the word Ragnarok.

Ancient Europa

The first civilizations present on Europa were founded by the Darcsens. Darcsens share many characteristics with shunned groups in European history, most notably Ashkenazim Jews and the Romani. The Darcsens feature dark blue-black hair and often carry around gingham kerchief as a symbol of their ethnicity. They are tied to what is known as the Darcsen Calamity. Supposedly the Darcsens had achieved a highly advanced civilization that was able to refine ragnite to power many advanced technologies and weapons. They were rumored to have ravaged Europa during a large period of war known as the Darcsen Calamity. This supposedly ruined the land and set Europa back centuries. The Darcsens are persecuted for, this attributed calamity, are forbidden from having last names and are often forced into menial jobs such as working in ragnite mines or refineries.

Statue of a Valkyrur

The idea of the Darcsen Calamity comes from those who claimed to have stopped it, the Valkyrur. They arrived from the north of Europa and in the War of the Valkyrur there are said to have put a stop to the fighting amongst the Darcsens and brought peace to Europa. In truth they were an invading army who brought about the destruction attributed to the Darcsen Calamity. As the name suggests the Valkyrur seem to hold much in common with Norse mythology and the Vikings, in fact modern Europans who worship Valkyrurs as some type of gods are known as part of the Yggd sect.

Little is known about the ancient Valkyrurs except that they seem to feature spirals in their artwork and that they had the power to wield the energy of refined ragnite to give themselves superhuman strength and superhuman healing abilities. The Valkyrurs faded through intermarriage with local Europan tribes. Occasionally some are born with innate Valkyrur abilities and this as can be imagined plays an important role in the game.

Modern Europa

Europa underwent a Industrial Revolution in the 19 century when the ability to refine ragnite was rediscovered. This led to fast growth as well as political changes. When all is said and done, two rival super powers arose in Europa at the beginning of the 20 century, the Autocratic Eastern Imperial Alliance in the east and the Atlantic Federation in the west.

The Autocratic Eastern Imperial Alliance

The eastern nations of Europa were the first to put refined ragnite into machinery and prospered. Connected by a series of ancient marriages since medieval times, a number of small countries formed into one cohesive unit known commonly as “The Empire.” The Emperor enjoys near limitless power and has the person fealty of those below him. The Alliance maintains many medieval customs and holds very conservative views. This includes very harsh treatment of any Darcsens located in its borders, usually involving forced labor camps.

The Atlantic Federation

The Industrial Revolution caused a great deal of political turmoil in the west of Europa leading to the establishment of many small independent democracies. However as the Alliance in the east became more powerful these democracies felt threatened and in response established the Atlantic Federation. While they tend to be wealthier than the Alliance, the Federation isn't as strong militarily and political strife among the member nations can cause the Federation to be slow to act.

Gallia

While the two superpowers are the main drivers of events in the games, the action takes place in the independent nation know as the Principality of Gallia.. It is located directly between the two superpowers, with the Alliance on its eastern border

and the Federation on its western border. Its a monarchy ruled by the House Randgriz. They are held to be direct descendants of the Valkyrur and built castle Randgriz after defeating the Darcsens in the 3 century. Gallia was invaded by the Empire in the 19 century and the King was forced to give up his crown but was allowed to still serve as the Archduke of Gallia. In time the Archduke was able to take advantage of the democracy moments and small rebellions happening across Europa to declare independence from the Empire. With many more important provinces needing their attention the Empire couldn't afford to hold onto Gallia and Gallia won what became known as the War for Gallian Independence. Gallia then claimed neutrality with the hope to avoid further Imperial entanglements. While geography provides Gallia with natural defense in the form of the seas to the north and west and dense forest to the south, Gallia practice a vigilant form of neutrality. This means that all citizens of Gallia undergo military training staring in elementary school and continuing through university. If not part of the standing military, Gallian citizens are expected to serve some time in local militias. Trained in defensive warfare, such preparations are meant to convince the outside powers that it is too costly to try to conquer and hold Gallia.

However Gallia has both been blessed and cursed by large amounts of ragnite ore among its hilly terrain. The ragnite has quickly enriched the nation making it comparable to the wealthiest Europan nations. But the ragnite also makes Gallia a target for invasion, especially by the Alliance as they start to deplete their own internal supply of ragnite.

The First Europan War

Map of Modern Europa

Tensions rose between the Federation and the Alliance as the Alliance begins to expand to find new sources of ragnite to power its increasing military might. Things hit a flash point when the crown prince of the Empire is assassinated (c1915). The Alliance and Federation soon find themselves at war. Things soon devolve into a series of trench battles and while the Empire does develop tanks near the end of the conflict, they were not immediately able to turn the tide and a truce was signed between the Federation and the Alliance. During the war Imperial forces did try to invade Gallia but were turn aside by General Belgen Gunther, father of Valkyria Chronicles main character Welkin Gunther, and his division of tanks.

The Second Europan War

Imperial Invasion of Gallia

In 1935 war again broke out between Alliance and the Federation over ragnite control. The superior Imperial military forces soon gain the upper hand and used that initial push to stage an invasion of Gallia. The first Valkyria Chronicles gamedeals with how Welkin Gunther repelled the Imperial invasion. Senjo no Valkyria 3 takes place at the same time as the first game but features different areas and characters. Valkyria Chronicles 2 takes pace in 1937 after the war and deals with an internal Gallian rebellion.

The Cast of Senjo no Valkyria 3

The Nameless

Emblem of Squad 422

The player takes on the role of members of squad 422. They are a penal squad made up of deserters and criminals given one last chance. Their names are scrubbed when put in the unit and instead referred to by number, hence the nickname of The Nameless. They are used as a suicide squad to carry out missions too dangerous for other units. They have no say in the matter, hence their ironic motto “Altaha Abilia” (in Latin, "always ready").

Number 7: Kurt Irving

The game's main character. He is a military genius who graduated top of his class at Lanseal Royal Military Academy. He was an officer in the regular army but something occurred that caused him to be sent to the squad 422.

Number 13: Riela Marcellis

As the illustration makes clear, Riela is a descendant of the Valkyrur. However at the start of the game she and those around her are unaware of her powers. Her squad gets wiped out and she is the sole survivor due to her Valkyrur powers that she doesn't understand. She is considered a jinx by the rest of the army and labeled a “Goddess of Death.” With nowhere else to go she ends up in squad 422.

Number 1: Imca

A Darcsen whose village was destroyed by the Imperial Valkyrur, she ignored the Darcsen teachings of non-violence and picked up a heavy weapon to hunt down those responsible. She is found by The Nameless and made part of the squad. Headstrong with her only goal revenge she will disobey orders if she disagrees with them.

Number 21: Felix

A “big brother” type from the regular army with a strong sense of decorum. He ended up in The Nameless after he filed reports on an incompetent superior officer.

Number 12: Valerie

A historian who was searching for the truths behind the Darcsen Calamity. She repeatedly trespassed on historical ruins landing her in trouble and then squad 422.

Number 23: Leila Peron

The older sister of Homer Peron from the first game, her egotistical and domineering personality comes from her attempts to literally whip her brother Homer into a proper man when they were kids. From then on she grew an affinity for it and continues on with her harsh methods, believing that physical punishment can be used to cure anything. When she joined the Gallian military, that attitude resulted in her trying to educate a commanding officer that way resulting in her being sent to Squad 442.

Number 11: Alfons Auclair

He calls himself the “Gallian Hawk” and believes himself a master spy and informant. Was sent to Squad 442 because the illegal ways he collected information was discovered

Ramsey Crowe

He is the head of The Nameless. Given his responsibilities and assignments he feels very little loyalty to his superiors. He indulges heavily in drink and women but is said to be a very able commander.

Calamity Raven

The main antagonists the player will be facing are a squad of Imperial special forces made up entirely of Darcsens and are known as the Calamity Raven.

Dahau

Leader of the group. He wishes to denounce his Darcsen heritage.

Lydia Agute

An Aide to Dahu but she doesn't seem to be subservient to him. She shows no loyalty to him but instead seem to be observing the group on behalf of the Empire.

Zig

A young Darcsen boy who admires Dahau. Trying to impress the older Darcsen he is willing to rush in at fight on the front lines.

Gameplay

Valkyria Chronicles is known for its unique gameplay. It is a turn based combat system featuring direct action elements. The system, called BLiTZ (Battle of Live Tactical Zones), involves the player commanding a squad of soldiers on the battlefield. Each turn the player is given a number of Command Points which can be either used to issue commands which influence the state of the game world (heal characters, improve accuracy, improve defense, etc.), or used to activate a unit of the field. If the player activates a unit, they enter Action Mode and move the character from a 3 person perspective. Their movement is limited by the amount of Action Points they have represented by a movement bar that decreases as they move. While in Action Mode enemy units will fire upon the player. The player can undertake (usually) one action during this time, such as shooting their gun or healing a nearby unit. This is called Targeting Mode and once in this mode enemies stop shooting at the player and they can take their time performing their action. If firing on an enemy and the enemy survives the attack, the enemy will then get a chance to counterattack before the player can move again.

The player needs to satisfy certain objects to win a mission. These include such things as eliminating all enemies, eliminating certain enemies, capturing enemy bases, collecting objects scattered around the map, escorting units, or defending a base for a given amount of turns. If the player successfully completes a mission, they are given a rank on the mission. Unlike say the Advanced War series that takes into account speed, the amount of units you destroyed and the amount of units you lost, Valkyria Chronicles grades the player only on the number of turns used. The fewer turns the higher the grade. Grades are important because they determine the experience award. After each successful mission the player earns experience to upgrade her army, with higher grades getting higher experience bonuses.

Classes

The soldiers the player uses fall into five classes (carrying over from Valkyria Chronicles 2):

Scouts: Highly mobile infantry that carry rifles and grenades. Very good at capturing bases quickly and the grenade is a strong anti personal weapon and the rifle has good range.

Engineers: Medics and tank repairers who carry a pistol. They are less hearty than other classes in general but their pistol can do very good anti-personnel damage at close range.

Lancers: Main anti-tank unit. They carry around an anti-tank lance which can do significant damage to infantry but due to its limited ammunition and difficulty in aiming its best used for destroying tanks and heavy gun placements.

Armored Soldiers: Their large shield protects from fire while clearing mines. Their hammer does decent anti personnel damage without any chance for a counter attack.

One thing new in Senjo no Valkyria 3 is the ability to change classes. While in Valkyria Chronicles 2, the main character had that ability, all characters in Senjo no Valkyria 3 can change class at any time by changing a character's weapon. However certain characters do perform better as certain classes.

Character Growth

Another new change for Senjo no Valkyria 3 is the leveling system. No longer are specific classes leveled but you instead increase 5 parameters that affect the entire squad.

Potentials

Master Table for Potentials

Potentials are character specific traits that you activate during action mode. They can be beneficial like giving you increased attack or harmful like having the character just end their turn. These potentials can be activated by the environment or by what actions you have the character perform. The are two basic types of potentials. Personal Potentials are innate traits a character has and can only be affected by story events. Battle Potentials are acquired as the character grows and always are beneficial. Valkyria Chronicles has a master table that allows the player to chart out their character's growth to achieve really powerful Battle Potentials based on upon what class the character is assigned.

Special Abilities

Kurt Irving, Reila Marcellis, and Imca have special powers that the player can activate by spending SP (special points) that are shared across the squad.

Kurt Irving: Direct Command

This allows Kurt to move without using any Action Points and anyone with him will not take enemy fire.

Reila Marcellis: Valkyria

This transforms Reila in a Valkyrur and allows her use of her lance and shield. She gets access to beam attacks that can damage armor

Imca: Open Fire

Imca uses her unique weapon Var to fire on all enemies on screen.

Notes

Asked about dating sim elements given one male and two female protagonists, the producer Shinji Moyotoma said that they are preparing multiple endings but that this is not primarily a love sim

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